


A message from the woods

by myotishia



Series: Thin ice [3]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Implied/Referenced Suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-19 20:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20663453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myotishia/pseuds/myotishia
Summary: PC Andrew Davidson is having a bad day, starting out having to watch a man fall to his death while laughing with joy. It only goes down hill from there.





	1. Thorns

**Author's Note:**

> New reader? Start right [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18551278)

Andy hated having to be on the ground when someone was threatening to jump. There was nothing he could actively do, other than keeping bystanders out of the splash zone and hoping he wouldn’t have to clean blood spatter from his shoes at the end of the day. This was a strange one. Usually someone up on a ledge would either be inconsolably depressed or have an odd calm about them. The calm ones were always more likely to go through with it as mentally they already had. The man they’d gotten the call about was happy. He kept repeating that he wasn’t scared anymore. Of what he wouldn’t say but whatever it was he was ecstatic about it. Andy could distantly hear what was being said as his colleague attempted to talk the man down.

“Ok, just let’s talk over here, yea?”

“But I’m not scared. Just look at me here. I can look down and not a thing.” The man laughed and gestured to the open air. 

“Right. What started this? Can you tell me?”

“It was the trees I think. I went into the trees. I reached out and they reached back. They took all the fear away.”

“How about you show me the trees. Step over here and you can show me, yea?”

“They’ll be there if you need them. They’ll take it all away. The fear, the pain, all gone.” He turned to the officer. “They’ll grow inside and show you there’s nothing to fear.” A step back was all it took and the man fell, laughing as he slipped before his voice was replaced by the sound of the screaming crowd below. 

“But why did they all pop?” Asked Tosh, grabbing her towel to dry off after finally getting all of the alien egg goo out of her hair. 

Owen laughed from the other side of the partition. “I think it’s a defence mechanism. One clutch pops and frightens off predators so the other clutches can hatch.”

“And who broke the first one?” 

“Might have been me.”

“Then you can clean my laptop.”

Jack called from further down the partition. “At least you were the other side of the room. I prefer a bit of warning before something explodes in my face.”

Laughter echoed through the room over the water turning off. Elise wrapped her towel around her hips. “At least it wasn’t toxic or anything. Decontaminating is not fun.”

“Neither is travelling back covered in drying goo.” Tosh sighed, lamenting her ruined jacket and her poor laptop. She handed Elise a hairbrush. “You’re going to get fluffy.”

“Not the dreaded fluff.” She grinned.

Tosh rolled her eyes. “It’s your own fault if your hair ends up making you look like you’ve been electrocuted.”

“Owen she’s being mean to me.” She teased, brushing down the back of her hair. 

Owen laughed and called over the divider. “You don’t usually complain.”

“Owen! Shut up.” She blushed. “You’re lucky there’s a wall between us.”

“You’re the one wandering around topless.”

“And how do you know that?”

“I know because you do the same thing every morning.”

“Are you complaining?”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

They could hear Jack chuckling. “That’s why you’re late so often.”

“No. We’re late so often because Owen hogs the bathroom.” Tosh smiled, buttoning up her blouse. “Anyway, I have a numbers station to decode.”

“No luck locating it?”

“Nope. And it isn’t using any language we have on record. I’ve managed to isolate it so we’re the only ones who receive the message but it’s still playing.” 

Elise brushed through her hair. “Want me to take a listen? I won’t be able to translate it but I might recognise it at least.”

“If you want to. It can’t hurt.”

“What is a numbers station anyway?”

“Your time didn’t have them?”

“Evidently not. That or it just didn’t come up.”

“They’re radio signals, most often used by the military to send coded messages. The agents who the messages are for have a key and usually without that you could never decipher it. But we have enough code cracking technology that it shouldn’t be a problem.” 

“Right. Come on then. Let’s go decode this message.” 

Andy sighed and closed his eyes as he sat in his car. This was a bad day. At least the last strange thing that happened ended up with the guy surviving and the whole thing being written off as some kind of mental break. The radio crackled to life and he prayed to whatever force was out there that it would be something over the other side of the city with at least six units closer to it. As if they had six other units. Nope, of course not. Of course it was just down the street. He would be faster on foot so he clambered out again. At least the report sounded like it was just a drunk staggering around. Walking down the street he immediately spotted who the ‘drunk’ was. A woman wearing flowers in her hair was dancing around in the middle of the road. 

“Come on, you can’t be in the road.”

She stopped and smiled warmly, no sign of drunkenness. “I can’t? Why not?”

“You’re going to get hurt. Have you taken anything today?”

“Like drugs? God no.” She laughed, skipping over to him. “Isn’t it a wonderful day?”

“You have to stay out of the road.”

“Why? There’s no need to be frightened of the cars. Or anything for that matter. I can show you if you want.”

“No. I’m not standing in the road and neither are you.” Poor woman was obviously mentally ill. He hoped he could just talk her into going home.

“You don’t have to but is it because you’re scared?”

“Scared?”

“The trees can take that all away you know.”

He suddenly felt his stomach drop. The man who’d jumped said the same thing. “Where are these trees then?”

The womans face lit up and she offered her hand which he tentatively took. If this was some kind of drug growing operation then he couldn’t give up the opportunity to be taken right there and if not he would know exactly what to report. 

Elise listened carefully to the odd sounds recorded from the numbers station. She didn’t recognise it exactly but something about it felt off somehow. 

“Is this a clear recording?” She asked, pulling off one side of her headphones.

Tosh wouldn’t admit she’d been looking out for a reaction but that wasn’t what she’d expected. “Um… Yes. Perfectly.”

“Hmm.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Something sounds… off.”

“Off?” She walked around to Elises desk, looking over her screen.

“Yea… One sec.” 

“Think there’s something hidden in the audio?”

“Not hidden exactly.” She closed her eyes to concentrate on the sound.

“What is it?”

She handed her headphones to Tosh. “Listen.”

Tosh slipped on the headphones listening to the recording ambient humming, interrupted every other second by a clear, singular, word. It wasn’t a language she recognised. 

“Can you hear it?”

“The words? Yes. I don’t hear anything different to before.”

“No, between the words.”

“Between?” She paused and listened carefully for the gaps between the words. There was something so faint she could easily have missed it. A whisper. “Can you enhance it?”

“I can try.” Elise isolated one of the quiet parts of the waveform, increasing the volume and setting it to repeat. “Better?”

She closed her eyes and listened through the hiss for the whispers. 

“Help me.” Came a desperate voice through the mess of sound.

“Can you put all the gaps together and enhance them? Maybe cut down the ambient noise.” Tosh pointed to the waveform excitedly.

“Sure. Give me ten minutes.”

Toshiko always enjoyed watching Elise play with sound. She always seemed happiest when she was making music. Sound was to Eli as tech was to Tosh and it showed as she worked with something, even as simple as editing a recording and filtering background noise. As much as Elise loved her robotics and mechanical items her first love would always be sound. Tosh wished she’d let them actually watch her drum. She always said it would be boring but seeing someone in their element was what was interesting. She’d started learning to play the guitar at the weekends and Tosh was sure she had a keyboard in her little soundproofed room.

“Tosh. Tosh? You still here?” Elise smiled, waving. 

Tosh snapped out of her thoughts. “Yes. Sorry. What have you got?”

“Well, I think it’s a distress call.” She handed over her headphones and pressed play.

The sound still crackled a little but a voice could be heard over it. “Hello? Is anyone out there? I’ve been here for three days. My friends… I think they’re dead. Oh god they’re dead… I found this radio thing but I can’t tune it. Everything’s all jumbled up… Please… Help me… My name is Kelly Shaw. Me and my friends just wanted to explore this house… It was just an abandoned house… There’s no way out… The doors lead to more hallways… I don’t want to die in here.” The rest of the recording contained the girl sobbing.

Andy was starting to rethink his plan as the trees seemed to be getting denser. The woman skipped through without a care, giggling to herself ever so often. It was the smell that stopped him in his tracks. Decomposition.

“Please just let that be an animal.” He breathed to himself, watching the woman enter a clearing. He didn’t see anything out of the ordinary at first, just an area surrounded by more trees. The branches hung down with thick foliage, creaking as they moved in the wind. The smell was even stronger here and it made it hard to breathe. The branches creaked even louder as they lifted, slowly revealing bodies impaled upon them underneath the leaves.

“Christ!” He exclaimed, staggering backwards. 

The woman turned, still smiling brightly. “It’s ok. They weren’t ready yet, that’s all. If you accept them it only hurts for a moment then you never have to feel pain, sadness or fear ever again.” She pulled open the buttons of her blouse to show a wound in her stomach with vines growing from it, wrapping around her middle. 

Andy swallowed hard and took a step back. He was way out of his depth here and it wasn’t as if there was anything he could do for those already stuck on the trees branches. 

“I… Well, how about I bring some friends and we can all-”

“You can’t leave. Not until you’ve accepted the trees gift.”

“I um… Can’t right now.” He stuttered before breaking into a sprint in the opposite direction, glad he’d forgotten to take his mobile phone out of his pocket before he started his shift. He called Jacks number as a shooting pain exploded through his shoulder. His phone fell to the ground and he staggered. Looking down, he saw a large needle like thorn had been shot through his shoulder. He didn’t have time to let the pain register. If he didn’t escape he was dead. He grabbed his phone, hoping it wasn’t broken and kept running, hearing the creaking of wood behind him. He didn’t have time to look back.

“Hello?” Came a voice from his phone. 

He took the deepest breath he could to get this whole ridiculous situation out before there was any chance for Jack to comment. “Killer tree. People with the things growing inside. Bodies impaled in the trees.”

“Where are you?” Jack sounded 100% serious and for a moment Andy wondered if they’d seen something like this before.

“Don’t know… Track my pho-” He was cut off by a second thorn piercing his arm. His phone fell and the screen cracked. No time to pick it up this time. He just had to run for his life and hope he’d be found. 

When someone was injured Owen rarely waited for the SUV to be at a standstill before jumping out and moving at a full sprint, pulling his backpack on. It was impressive if nothing else. He was thankful for the high vis part of the police officers uniform as he saw the man collapse onto the grass holding his arm. Andy looked up, his chest burning just as much as his arm, recognising the man skidding to a halt at his side. 

“It’s still... Following… Run…” He gasped, his free hand clutching his arm around the thorn to stem the bleeding. 

“Just stay down and don’t move.”

“Bu-” 

Three shots rang out and the woman, vines growing from her stomach and mouth, staggered back.

“Elise! Is that herbicide ready?” Asked Jack, wondering if he’d have to pump more bullets into this woman. 

Elise liked up the rifle shot and fired, the modified ammo bursting inside the womans chest. The vines immediately blackened and withered, dropping away from the human body it had been keeping alive. 

Owen winced as he cut away Andy’s sleeve, seeing the green lines spreading from the puncture site. 

“W-what is that?” Asked the police officer, looking down at the two wooden spikes that had become part of him. 

“That’s what I’m finding out. I wouldn’t keep looking.” He said, pressing the injector, that would hopefully numb the wounds out completely, against the mans shoulder. “Jack. I can get him stable here but I think I’m going to have to take a closer look back at the hub. These needles are barbed so I can’t just pull them out.”

The captain turned and walked over, looking very tall to the fallen officer. “Damn. I hoped we could get this dealt with but you’re right. Alright PC Davidson, Gwen said you always wondered where she went. You’re about to find out.”

“So, good news and bad news.” Said Owen, back at the hub and with full knowledge of what he was working with.

Andy watched him, looking for just how bad the news could be. “I’m not losing my arm am I?”

“No. Your limbs are staying firmly attached. Good news is those barbs aren’t poisonous.”

“And the bad news?”

“The bad news is they’re growing. If I remove them now it’ll be a small procedure and you’ll be home by tonight.”

“What happens if you don’t?”

“Other than the infection you’d definitely get, by tomorrow you’ll have flowers sprouting from your ears.”

He couldn’t believe it but he actually cracked a smile. “How do you take them out then?” 

“I make sure you’re arm’s numb, cut from here to here.” Owen pointed above the shoulder spike and below the arm spike. “Remove all the growth which is thankfully close to the skin, then I use that fancy piece of technology over there to remove the spikes.”

“I’ll get a scar that I can make up a good story about out of this I suppose.”

He laughed. “The most you’re getting is two dots. Now, I’d prefer it if you stayed awake for this but I don’t need you having a panic attack halfway through so do I need to sedate you or not?”

“As long as I can’t feel it I’ll be fine.”

“You’re lucky. We have the best anaesthetic in existence here.”

“Yea. What did you give me before? I thought strong painkillers made you sleepy and filled your head with cotton wool.”

“I’d say that’s classified but you wouldn’t believe me if I did tell you.”

“I ran away from a killer tree today. You could tell me you’ve got bloody dinosaurs wandering around and I’d believe you.”

“Well, we do have a pteranodon. She’s called Myfanwy.”

Andy blinked, not quite sure what to say.

“I wish I was taking the piss but I’m really not.”

“Gwen was always so secretive about all this.”

“Yea well. That was so she didn’t have to wipe your memory. You’re her friend so she’d feel bad.”

“You can do that?! What do you even do down here?”

“Personally? I find out what killed people. Find out how aliens work. Develop drugs.”

“Aliens? Now I know you’re taking the piss.”

Owen rolled his eyes. “That’s where you draw the line? You just got attacked by a killer tree and a woman who had a plant growing out of her gut and you can’t believe aliens exist.”

“Well… I mean… Come on. Little green men?”

“How many people have you heard of being attacked by blokes with sharp teeth, wearing boiler suits?”

“I… Wait…”

“While your brain tries to unpack that I’m going to prep your arm.”

“You’re serious. You’re actually serious. No wonder Gwen never said anything.”

“If you keep still and this goes well, I'll show you something that’ll really blow your mind.”

“Jack, I’ve had that wooded area cordoned off due to unstable earth and a possible mine shaft cave in.”

“Thanks Tosh. Any luck with the numbers station?”

“The hidden message was in English but I still haven’t located its source. It was sent by a girl called Kelly Shaw. She was reported missing last night but her distress call said she’d been wherever she is for three days. She said she’d been exploring an abandoned house with friends and hasn’t been able to find her way out. She’s only fourteen.” Tosh brought up a photo of the girl with her basic information. “I’m cross referencing any vacant buildings in the area where she was last seen with any changes in rift activity. Nothing yet.”

“Keep at it. As soon as Owen’s done we’re heading back out to finish off this tree.”

“I’ve never heard of a killer tree.”

“There are a few places that have aggressive plant life. All it takes is a single seed or stray clipping and we have killer trees.”

“Won’t we have to basically salt the earth to make sure it doesn’t spread?”

“The herbicide we’re using should be enough, and it breaks down quickly so the area can start regrowing native plants as soon as the killer tree is removed. I never thought that would be a sentence I’d be saying.”

“Nothing is too strange here. I’m more surprised that you haven’t said that before.”

“Killer plants don’t appear as often as you’d think.” He looked up as Elise wandered past with a box. “What are you doing?”

The short haired woman placed the box on Gwens desk. “Gwen’s going to be back tomorrow and being as I’m a bit useless right now I thought I’d decorate.” 

“That time already, huh?”

“Yep. As much as she’s loving motherhood she says she’s looking forward to coming back. We were chatting last night, after Anwen fell asleep, and she said Rhys is taking a couple of weeks off so it’s not too traumatic for the little bean with her mum away in the day.”

“I don’t know if it’s good or bad that she wasn’t in today.”

“I think she would have lectured Andy for the whole trip here about how he shouldn’t have gone in there alone.”

“And she’d be right.”

“You would have done the same.” 

Jack chuckled. “And she still would have been right.”

“And you wouldn’t have listened.”

“I never do.” 

To his credit Andy had been a perfect patient. He’d stayed still and even watched with morbid fascination as the thin vines were removed from his arm and shoulder. The thorns themselves had been removed with the singularity scalpel so they didn’t do any more damage while being extracted. 

“Don’t move your arm too much for the next few days. No heavy lifting. Keep it clean and dry.” Owen said, pulling off his gloves.

“What should I say happened if anyone asks?”

“I don’t know. Nail gun went off? Ran into the angriest grandma who stabbed you with her knitting needles?”

“Helpful.”

“I aim to please.” 

“So, what was this thing that would blow my mind, other than knowing aliens exist.”

Owen grinned and wandered up to the doorway. “Elise.” He called.

“Yea? What’s up?” She replied, taping a ‘welcome back’ banner above Gwens desk.

“Come down here for a sec.”

She clambered down from the desk and headed over. “Need a hand with something?”

“Show plod here your teleportation.”

“Are you sure?”

“He won’t remember it anyway and the reaction could be funny.” He whispered, pointing to Andy. 

She shrugged. “Ok. Well, I’m going to teleport to over there. Try not to freak out and hurt yourself.”

Andy nodded. “Is this a magic trick or-”

In the blink of an eye she disappeared from where she had been standing and reappeared at the other side of the room. “Ta daa.”

“Wait, wait, wait… Are you an alien? How did you do that?” He asked, looking for any sign of mirrors or something that would tell him how she'd done that. 

“I’m genetically human.” She laughed, seeing the baffled look on his face. “The teleportation thing is a kind of side effect of a very long and complex story. I guess you could call me a time alien.”

“Time alien?”

“I came from the future… A future.”

“Did you come back to stop some kind of disaster?”

“Kind of. Though it wouldn’t have been one you would have noticed. More of a personal disaster for this lot.”

“Can you stop it?”

“Already have. It was a one way trip so now I work here. Hey, now you’re all patched up we should go back and kill that tree.”

“I can show you where it is.”

Elise and Owen both looked at him and began a rush of words that boiled down to “no way in hell.”

“You’ll need my help to find it. The tree is a long way in and it could kill you before you even realise you’re close to it.”

Owen grumbled for a moment. “Just… Wait here.” He walked off to find Jack, not wanting to make this decision. Elise followed uncomfortably. 


	2. Root of the problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not every day you have to face a killer tree.

Jack didn’t like this one bit but Andy had been right. It was better to have a guide to the exact area than wandering in half blind. Elise had been tasked with being Andy’s bodyguard and the plan was to walk him back as soon as they knew where the tree was. She had the, now much more compact, sonic shield hanging on a chain around her neck to keep her hands free as she walked with him. Andy had to admit he was nervous. What he’d learned had finally started to sink in fully and though he couldn’t feel the damage to his arm being back where it had happened made it itch. 

“Are you sure you can’t kill it from a distance?” He asked, looking up into the early evening sky. 

Elise shook her head. “We are but it has to be in sight. Plus we have to confirm it’s dead. You don’t need to worry, I’m not going to let you get hurt.” 

“How do you stop a killer tree?”

“This necklace isn’t for decoration. It’s an invisible shield. I activate it and nothing will touch you. I’ll let you wear it if it’ll make you feel better.”

“No, you know what you’re doing with it… So, Gwen deals with this stuff all the time.”

“Yep.”

“If I’d known then there are a few more cases I could have thrown to her.”

“Yea?”

“Yea. There’s this house. It doesn’t have a number and no one’s lived there in years but we never get squatters or drug dealers hanging around. I think it’s called Ravenwood house. If we ever get a call about someone breaking in there we’re told not to touch it. People who go in never come out.”

“Why haven’t we heard about it before?”

“Nothing gets written down about it. It’s like an urban legend but… We’ve got a group of missing teenagers. One witness said they went into the house and we can’t do anything about it.”

“Any chance one of these missing people is a fourteen year old girl called Kelly Shaw?” Jack interjected.

“Yes. Are you looking into it?”

“Yea, only because we picked up a strange radio signal.” He looked deep in thought for a moment. “What are you planning when you get back to work?”

“Me? The usual I suppose. I’ll stay out of your business if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Partially. Standard procedure would be to wipe your memory as soon as possible…”

Owen looked over in surprise. “You’re not thinking what I think you are, are you?”

“If we’d known about the house years ago then those kids wouldn’t be missing. If Gwen’s taught us anything it’s that sometimes you need people outside of Torchwood you can trust. What do you think PC Davidson? Can we trust you? I understand how heavy the knowledge can be.”

“I…” Andy began. “Yes. What would you need me to do?”

“Just send anything that feels wrong to you. Anything your bosses don’t want to touch and won’t report.”

“I can do that.”

“Gwen can talk you through it tomorrow. For now, how close are we to the tree?”

He looked around. “Not far. You’ll be able to smell it soon.”

Jack already could faintly and it was getting stronger. He pulled the rifle from his back, ready to face whatever the plant had to offer. One of the thorns shot past, missing him by inches. The group stepped to the sides, taking cover behind the closest trees. 

“Take him back. We can deal with this from here.” The captain ordered. There was no questioning it. When Jack gave an order in that tone you followed, full stop. Elise nodded and gestured for Andy to join her.

“Stay ahead of me and stay quiet.” She whispered, one hand on the pendant around her neck. 

With the two out of sight Jack and Owen could concentrate on not getting hit by the projectiles. The native trees gave good cover and were close together enough that you could move from one to another easily. The air smelled more and more rancid the closer they got to what looked like a huge, incredibly dense, weeping willow. Ducking under the low hanging foliage the tree itself became visible, gore dripping down its branches. A figure stood by the trunk, one hand against the surface. 

Jack wasn’t going to wait for the tree to realise how close they were and lined up the shot. The figure turned, the ruined face of the woman he’d shot earlier staring at them through empty sockets. Her body had melded with the tree, likely dragged back the second the herbicide had degraded. His finger squeezed the trigger but found himself firing into the ground as a branch, that had wrapped around his ankle, lifted him into the air. The weapon fell to the soft earth. Owen dove out of the way of a second branch that had been aimed directly at his spine. 

“What do we do now?” Andy asked.

Elise shrugged. “We wait I suppose. Listen… I know today’s been a lot for you but I need you to think hard about whether you want to remember this or not. Being linked to Torchwood can be dangerous.”

“I’m a police officer. I know what putting yourself in danger is like.”

“No, it’s more than that. Let me put it this way I’ve been working here for maybe a year and a half and I’ve been shot in the thigh, lost my left arm, been mauled by a rabid alien and so much more. As much as I love my job, we all do, it’s something that makes life… Difficult. Gwen’s strong enough to keep her life together and have more than the job but not everyone can. Even just being linked to us could put a target on your back. I just want to be honest with you.”

“All of that was in the line of helping humanity. Being able to do that makes it worth it. But thanks for being honest. You’re worried about them, aren’t you?”

“I’m always worried about them.”

“I’m here now and I can get back to my car from here so why don’t you go after them?”

“They’d be pissed if I did. I have to trust them.”

“But...?”

“But if anything gets this far out I still have to be here.”

“You don’t sound like a time traveller you know.”

She laughed. “What’s a time traveller meant to sound like?”

“I dunno. Not Welsh. I mean the same accent. Doesn’t that change?”

“I’m not from the 51st century Andy. I was only displaced about 30 years. Things don’t change that much.” She lent against the side of the SUV and looked back to the trees.

“I just assumed-”

“Andy move.”

“I’m sorry I-”

“No, move!” She pulled him aside as a root sprouted from the ground beneath where his feet had been. Holding onto him she hit the pendant around her neck and the air buzzed, the root bursting into flames and slithering back under the soil. Everything was still for a moment before three more roots rose up like angry snakes.

“How long will that shield thing last?” He asked.

“About an hour.”

“And after that?”

“We hide in the SUV.”

Jack felt the air get knocked from his lungs as he landed flat on his back, the tree having dropped him from about ten feet in the air. Spots clouded his vision but didn’t stop him seeing the branch shooting towards him. He rolled out of the way just in time as the wooden limb pierced the soft earth. Where was Owen? And where was the rifle? He kind of hoped they were both in the same place. No such luck.

Owen kicked at the strange amalgamation of woman and plant who had him suspended in the air by his wrists, held by the vines growing through her skin. 

“Don’t be scared. You should accept my gift. Life is easy when you don’t feel negativity.” She said, her voice sounding like the creaking of branches.

“No thanks. I don’t need your roots crawling around in my brain.” He glared, pulling himself up to try and bite the plant bindings. 

Her expression didn’t change, not that it could that well. “I could bring peace to this world and all I ask is to be fed. You could all be so happy.”

“Taking away negative feelings doesn’t mean you’re happy.”

“The ones who let me in were happy.”

“And dead.”

“But they were happy to do so. Just let m-” A shot rang out and a hole burst open in the trunk of the tree behind her. Partially coagulated blood ran down from the large wound in the bark. The plant woman threw Owen to the floor and rushed to the hole, digging into it to remove the poisonous bullet from the core of the tree. Jack ran over to Owen, helping him up and away from the tree as the branches blackened, withered, and snapped under their own weight. He only stopped to fire the last herbicide bullet into the back of the manic womans head, making sure the tree couldn’t regrow from what was hiding inside of the body. The branches with bodies impaled upon them were the first to fall. Each splattering partially decomposed viscera across the dirt. 

As soon as they were out of the range of the collapsing plant Owen slid down a tree. Jack hadn’t noticed before but the man was bleeding.

“Did it get you with a thorn?”

“Naa. It smacked me with a branch. I think it was waving you around like a flag at the time.”

Jack smirked, glad Owen had his usual resilience. “I’ve been worse things.”

“Don’t think I want to know.” He said, checking his swollen leg over. It wasn’t broken but the gash would need stitching. “Might be a few minutes.”

“Need a hand?”

“I will with the walk back. Let me get this wrapped up. I can stitch it properly when we get back to the hub.”

“I’m sure Tosh’ll help.”

“She’ll fuss at me.”

“That’s helping.”

“That’s the opposite of helping.”

“You do the same to her.”

“Sod off.” He grumbled, taping the dressing in place to temporarily stem the bleeding. He’d do more if they weren’t going back to the hub right away but for now it would do. The walk back, even leaning on Jack heavily the whole way, was a bitch. When they finally reached the edge of the treeline they saw Elise, sitting on the grass with Andy, surrounded by a line of scorched foliage. She immediately ran over to help.

“Please tell me the tree is dead. It stopped attacking but that never proved anything before.” She said, supporting Owen from the other side.

Jack smiled. “Yea, it’s dead. I see you’ve been having fun out here.”

“Yea. The shield worked really well but it kind of left its mark.”

“With all the clean up needed back there I wouldn’t worry about it too much.”

“You ok sweetheart? I can see your foot’s still attached at least.” She said, smiling sympathetically at Owen. 

The doctor nodded. “Nothing a few stitches won’t fix. Not everyone can say they got bitch slapped by a tree.”

On the way back to the hub Andy and Elise were dropped off to pick up his abandoned police car. He couldn’t drive so the plan was for her to drive him back to the station and then home. The officer behind the desk had a mix of shock and anger on his face as they walked in.

“Where the hell have you been? We’ve been trying to contact you for hours.” He said, looking between Andy and Elise. “Who’s this? What happened to your arm?”

Andy opened his mouth to say then stopped and smiled softly. “That’s classified. Sorry.”

“Classified? Andy, what are you on about?”

“Where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing is strictly classified. Sorry.”

Elise stifled a chuckle. “He’s right. Torchwood business I’m afraid. If he said anything there could be trouble.” 

The officer didn’t seem to be sure about any of this. “Torchwood. Bloody Torchwood? What kind of excuse is that?”

“Excuse?” She took out her ID and held it up so he could see it. “It’s not an excuse. Go and grab your stuff. I’ll wait here.”

Andy smiled and walked off to get his things as the other officer wordlessly gulped air, unable to find anything to say. Thankfully he didn’t have time to let anything get too uncomfortable as a very belligerent man was being wrestled in by two tired looking officers. Elise stepped out of the way, barely even flinching at the arrested mans tirade. He reminded her of a tantruming weevil. For a moment he made eye contact with her and fell silent, like he was seeing something no one else could, before beginning to scream in terror instead of anger. From that point on he begged to be put in a cell, anything to get away from ‘that thing’.

When Andy returned he was confused as to why Elise looked so uncomfortable. “Not bothering you are they?”

“Huh? Your colleagues? No. Let’s get you home.”

“Ok. See you on Friday Jeff.” He said to the officer, that had gone very pale, before walking out. “What was all that about?”

Elise shrugged. “I think the man they brought in was on PCP or something. I look normal to you, right?” 

“Yea. Maybe it’s the Torchwood aura.” 

“Torchwood aura?”

“Whenever your lot turn up you just breeze in and none of us can say anything even if we wanted to. We call that affect the Torchwood aura.”

Elise laughed. “I’ll have to tell the others that. I loved the it’s classified line by the way. Very cool.”

“I didn’t know what else to say.”

“It works, just try not to name drop.”

“That was you.”

“I don’t mean now.”

The next morning Gwen stepped out into the warm, early morning air, feeling so ready to go back to work. Even after waking up at 3am to a very fussy baby she didn’t feel tired. Her time off made her partially understand why Torchwood had become Jacks entire life. She wasn’t going to let herself go that far but she understood. Even the drive to work was refreshing. Maybe she’d needed the break to appreciate everything she had. Walking into the hub felt like home. It felt like she’d been there only yesterday. Walking in a smile spread across her face, seeing her desk fully decorated. The words ‘welcome back’ hanging above her computer. 

“Good morning.” Ianto smiled, handing Gwen her coffee.

“Morning. I see nothing’s changed.” She took her mug gratefully, remembering just how much better Iantos coffee was compared to anything she had at home. 

“Does it ever?”

“Point. Are we having a quiet day or a busy one?”

“Busy. And don’t mind Owen. He’s being more himself than usual because he needs to rest his leg.”

“What happened?”

“He got on the wrong side of a very angry tree. Oh, while I’m thinking about it, Jack wants to go and visit your friend Andy.”

“What? Why?”

“We’re considering him as a contact and he has to decide if he’s ready for that. We gave him a chance to sleep on it so if he decides he can’t handle it-” He handed Gwen a small blister pack, “- he has the option to pretend it never happened.”

She smiled softly. “I don’t think I’ll need this.”

“Just in case… It’s good to have you back.”

“It’s good to be back.” 

Elise handed a small box to Jack as he let himself into her workshop. 

“You’re done?” He asked, opening the box to see the beautifully hand crafted pocket watch.

She nodded and lent back in her chair. “Yep. It should be stronger than the original as well. I know our line of work isn’t kind to anything fragile.”

“Thank you for this.”

“Any time. It was a fun project.”

“So what do you want as payment?” He asked, slipping the box into his pocket. 

“Being as I did a lot of the work on work time you already have.”

“No, this was a private request.”

“Let me think on it. By the way, do I look any different to you today?” 

“Different? No. Am I missing something?”

“It was just yesterday when I was at the police station this guy was brought in kicking off… And well, when he looked at me he started freaking out. He looked terrified and I thought maybe something had started showing through.”

“If he was already in that state I wouldn’t look into it too much.”

“I guess. Well, if you can’t see anything then it must be fine. Thanks Jack.”

He smiled softly, knowing that she would be over thinking the interaction for a while. “Gwen’s back if you want to go say hi.”

“Cool. I’ll be right up.”

“And tell Owen to stop sulking.”

“He’s only sulking because he wants to see the spooky house. It didn’t help that me and Tosh started swapping theories last night and didn’t end up going to bed until 2 in the morning.”

“Who said he wasn’t going?”

“I think he assumed as he’s not meant to be putting too much weight on his leg.”

“He can help while sitting. Do you have one of your little remote control camera devices?”

“I have like six. What do you need them for?”

“I don’t want to send anyone into that house without scoping it out first.”

“Ah right. I can bring a little scout bot.” She lent down and pulled a case from under the table, then picked up one of the multiple batteries that had been charging at the back of the desk.

Gwen knocked on Andys door, planning to meet the others at Ravenwood house as soon as she was done. If he decided to remember she’d have someone else she could talk about work with. It had always hurt to lie to Andy. He didn’t deserve being lied to.

Andy opened the door and smiled his usual friendly smile. “Morning. It’s been too long.”

“It has. How’s your arm?”

“Bruised. Come in, no use standing on the doorstep.”

She stepped inside, glad he seemed to be in high spirits. “Thanks. Owen told me everything that happened. I can’t believe you went running in on your own.”

“You really haven’t changed a bit.” He chuckled. “I did. Can’t afford to have a partner with you these days so I’m usually on my own.”

“You know what I meant.”

“In my defence I didn’t know it was going to be a killer tree.”

“Still. So, how are you feeling about being one of our in the know contacts?”

He sat on the sofa and sighed. “I think I’m in. I mean what happened with you makes so much more sense now. Everything makes so much more sense. If I’m honest I’d rather know the truth, even with the risks.”

“I’m surprised that was explained to you.”

“Elise said while she was being my bodyguard.”

“Just remember she’s very unlucky and has a habit of running into things so you’re probably not going to end up with injuries even close to hers. I’m glad she told you though.”

His smile returned. “It’s a lot to take in but I’ll be fine… So, you’re looking into Ravenwood house.”

“I always thought that was just an urban legend.”

“So did I until a kid went missing last year. Now we’ve got a whole group missing and we can’t even go near. Even if you can’t bring them home, I’m so relieved you’re looking into it. Maybe you can stop it happening again.”

“That’s part of what keeps me going. Speaking of, that’s where I’m heading after this. They’re sending a little robot in to see what happens.” 


	3. House of bones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ravenwood house, where people have been disappearing for years.

Ravenwood house, according to Ianto, was built in the late 1800’s and had been a family home up until 1926 when the entire family were killed after a bitter land dispute turned violent. Since then it was sold on three times, never staying with one person for more than three months before eventually being abandoned. Even though no one took responsibility for the buildings upkeep the place looked remarkably new. The windows were clean and undamaged, the garden didn’t have a single weed in sight and the doors looked freshly painted. It could have very easily been a show home or the set of a period drama. A rabbit sap on its haunches, sniffing the air, as Jack stepped foot into the back garden that was thankfully in the shade. It had become an oppressively warm day and he didn’t feel like healing sunburn. The rabbit scampered off under a hedge at the sight of humans invading its territory. 

“I wish everywhere we ended up was this nice.” Mused Tosh, pulling her bag from her shoulder and placing it on an old stone bench, decorated with a wooden arch covered in wild red roses. The sweet scent hung heavy in the air, reminding her of turkish delight. Owen flopped down onto the other side of the bench, being followed by Elise who was carrying his kit for him. If those kids were still inside the house, they probably wouldn’t be in the best shape. She placed the kit down next to him before opening the case that contained her little scouting robot. 

It was about the size of a dinner plate and was made for speed and durability. The plates inside each tyre could increase and decrease grip where necessary. Plates at the front and back hid small arms to help remove obstacles and collect samples. With a fresh battery installed it chirped musically to announce that it was on and ready to go. 

“That’s adorable.” Said Jack, chuckling at how the small robot spun in happy circles.

Owen smirked. “You should see the robot vacuum we have at home. It sings to itself.”

“You’re kidding.”

“I wish I was.”

Tosh rolled her eyes as she opened her laptop and connected it to the robots cameras. “Kirby only sings to himself in the day time. We didn’t want him to get too lonely.”

“It’s a vacuum cleaner.”

“Who gets frightened during thunderstorms. Don’t act like you don’t drop toast crumbs for him in the mornings.”

“Not intentionally.”

“You named him.”

Elise giggled to herself. “Anyway, let’s find somewhere to get this little guy into the house.” She wandered over to the back door of the building and reached for the door handle.

“It’s not going to just be unlocked.” Said Jack before the door handle turned and the door quietly swung open. “Never mind then.”

The cameras carried by the scout robot gave a clear view of a modestly decorated drawing room. Dust motes drifted in the warm air, illuminated by the robots LED lights. Tosh brought up a copy of the houses original floor plan with a red dot showing where in the house the scout was. So far nothing out of the ordinary had shown itself, bar the houses immaculate state, and the robot moved through the door to the hallway. The front door was clearly visible, light filtering in through the stained glass windows that stood either side of the large oak door. 

“Where should we start?” Asked Elise, activating the robots little arms.

“There are multiple bedrooms and an office upstairs. The office is the most likely area for a two way radio to be left.” Tosh pointed to the office on the floor plan. “The stairs should be to your right.”

The robot used its arms to guide it up the stairs, the plates in its tyres expanding to grip each step. On the second floor landing the robot turned to move towards the office, only to find itself camera to face with the hollow eye sockets of a skull. The bones were old, all soft tissues long decayed or eaten by insects. The tattered clothing that hung over the skeletal remains dated the body to around the 30’s. Divets in the wooden floor showed that whoever this body had been had clawed into the floor to try and get to the stairs. The robot carefully manoeuvred around the dusty remains and further towards the office. It opened the door and found itself recording the kitchen.

“Wait… What?” Asked Elise.

Tosh looked between the live feed and the floor plan. “That makes no sense. Go in.”

As the robot rolled through the doorway the red dot that showed its position disappeared, then reappeared in the kitchen. 

“Can you go back?”

The robot drove back out of the kitchen door but found itself in the dining room as the floor plan said it should. 

“So, it’s a one way spatial anomaly.” Said Jack, watching the screen intently. “Try a fe w more doors. We need to know if the distortions always go to the same place or if they’re random.”

Scout turned down the hallway and opened the door to the living room. Inside was as pristine as the rest of the house bar a large bookcase laying on the floor. Upon closer inspection a hand was reaching out from underneath. Whoever the owner was wasn’t alive, that was certain but the body was very fresh. Turning back, the camera showed a bedroom in the open doorway. The spatial anomalies did follow a kind of pattern but none of them lead directly to either of the outer doors and when you did get a direct route to the doors the front lead into a small bedroom and the back lead into the loft. Once in there didn’t seem to be a logical way out. 

Tosh looked over the modified map that recorded the distortions. “None of them have lead to the cellar or the study. There should be a way into the cellar via the kitchen.”

“I didn’t see it the first time I was in there but I’ll give it a try.” Elise drove the little robot through the shortest route to the kitchen and began opening doors. Interestingly one of the cupboard doors lead to what looked like an outdoor coal shed so that could be a possible way out in a pinch. Upon finding the cellar the robot descended the stone steps. A dim yellow light came from the other end of the cellar, the glowing of embers from a fire that had burned itself out showed a figure huddled next to it. A boy, that couldn’t have been more than fourteen, was curled in a ball next to the fire. Scouts little arm reached out and tugged on the boys sleeve. No reaction. The boys arm fell to show the dried blood that had soaked into his sleeve. 

“I’m getting the feeling that we might be too late.” Elise sighed, moving scout away from the body. 

Tosh rested a hand on her shoulder. “The girl said that her friends were already dead. Let’s just concentrate on finding her.”

“Yea… Ok, out of the cellar. We still need to find the office.”

Scout drove out of the cellar without issue and made its way through the house, checking each cupboard and wardrobe for the distortion that could lead to the study. It was infuriating and the idea of being stuck in there with no idea why any of it was happening was horrifying. From the bodies they’d found there had to be something more than just the constant disorientation. Something that had been so terrifying that you’d claw into a hard wood floor to try and escape. Something you’d end your own life to escape. Something you’d climb a bookcase to get away from. 

“We’re missing the minotaur.” Elise said, sitting back from the controls.

Jack looked at her over his sunglasses. “Huh?”

“It’s a labyrinth, sure. But there has to be something in there. Something making sure we don’t find that one room. Where’s this labyrinths minotaur?” 

“In the centre…” He stood back and looked up at the building. “There’s a window in the attic.”

“Yes?”

“We didn’t see one on the feed up there.”

“I can go back and see if there’s a hidden door.”

“And hopefully not a hidden minotaur.”

“There you are.” Called Gwen, rounding the corner of the house.

Jack looked up and smiled. “What took you so long?”

“Honestly, I thought I was in the wrong place. Any sign of the girl we’re looking for?”

“Not yet. We found her friends but…”

She frowned deeply. “Oh.”

“But we haven’t given up yet.”

Tosh pointed at the screen in front of her. “There. There’s a slight difference in the levels of the wall.

Scout pried the door open as there wasn’t a handle and on the other side there was a clear view of the study. Multiple skeletons lay in one corner, books were strewn across the floor and a female figure was hunched over the desk in front of an old radio communication system. Scout pulled itself up onto the desk. The girl was breathing but she looked in bad shape. For now she was asleep and that was probably for the best. 

“Whatever’s causing this has to be here. We’ve looked everywhere else.” Said Tosh, before looking over at Owen who looked ready to go the second the spatial anomaly stopped. 

Jack tilted his head as he looked at the screen. “Look at the back of the radio. Those dials have been modified.”

Scout drove carefully around the girl and towards the back of the radio. It was a mess of wires and lights, nothing like a radio should be. At the centre was a cuboid which most of the wires lead to. 

“Tosh, take over, this is more your league than mine.” Said Elise, passing over the neural controller. 

Tosh made scout turn the device to see what she was working with. She’d seen similar devices but nothing exact. That didn’t mean she couldn’t do anything. Removing three of the haphazardly soldered wires she reached the button to open it up. The thing had a solid power core that could be removed but she stopped before removing it. 

“I can shut it down but if it’s made to keep something in then…”

Jack squeezed her shoulder comfortingly. “I’ll handle it. Let’s just get that kid out of there.” 

The core slid out of the device and its glow faded. To check the effect had stopped scout was driven out into the hallway and back. Jack and Gwen were through the door before Tosh could say a thing. 

Elise followed after helping Owen up. He didn’t have to go far as Jack returned with the girl in his arms. She was sobbing softly and gripped onto his coat as best she could. 

“Go and help Gwen.” The captain ordered. 

The sound of sirens approaching made Gwen feel a little better, knowing Kelly would be ok and be able to go home. She unplugged, or more took the weak soldering from, the rest of the wires out of the device as Elise walked in.

“So, how’s your first day back going then?” She asked, stepping around the scattered books. 

Gwen laughed softly. “I’ve had worse days back. Kelly gets to go home, that’s all that matters.”

“It’s a nice ending, I’ll give you that.”

“Thanks for talking to Andy, by the way.”

“I thought he had a right to know so he could make an informed decision. What did he decide?”

“He’s in.”

“I’m glad. He seems like a good guy.”

A loud thud from above cut off the conversation, followed by a crash as the loft window shattered outwards, a shape shooting into the sky as glass rained down on the back garden. 

“Please tell me that wasn’t our minotaur.” Said Elise as she watched the thing break through the clouds. 

“At least it’s leaving?”

“I really hope this doesn’t come back to bite us in the ass.”

“Don’t tempt fate.”

“Fate was already tempted and you know it.”

Late in the afternoon Tosh announced what she’d found out about the cube.

“It was a beacon of sorts. From what I can tell it’s used by some kind of law enforcement to contain a suspect. It’s allowed to drop where it falls and sends out a signal so it can be picked up. When it fell it was picked up by the last owner of the house who thought the message it was sending out was from the spirits of those who died in the house. He began modifying it and unintentionally expanded its effect to the whole house as well as creating the numbers station. His tampering scrambled the message.”

“Any information on what it was holding?” Asked Jack, his feet up on his desk.

“None. It’s a generic capture method so it doesn’t store data on who or what is inside.”

“Let’s just hope it’s gone for good.”

“There’s been no sign of activity at either the house or in the upper atmosphere since it left.”

“We’ll keep an eye on it for a while. While I’m thinking about it, Gwen, what did PC Davidson say?”

Gwen looked up. “He wants to help.”

“Good, I don’t want a repeat of Ravenwood house if we can help it.” 


End file.
